Ajay Kumar at 13:21, 23 August 2023

2023-08-23T13:21:50Z

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{{Short description|French international news agency}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox company
| name = Agence France-Presse
| logo = Agence France-Presse Logo.svg
| image =
| image_caption = Agence France-Presse’s headquarters, Place de la Bourse (Paris, France).
| type = Private organization with special status, operating under commercial rules
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1835}}<br />(as [[Havas]])
| founder = Charles-Louis Havas
| location = [[Paris]], France
| key_people = Charles-Louis Havas, Jean Marin, Henri Pigeat, Pierre Louette, Emmanuel Hoog
| industry = [[News media]]
| products = Text, photo, video, audio, and graphics
| area_served = Worldwide
| revenue = 321.9 millions euros (2022)
309.5 millions euros (2021)
| num_employees = 2 400
| num_employees_year = 2023
| subsid = Sport-Informations-Dienst
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.afp.com/en|afp.com}}
}}
'''Agence France-Presse''' ('''AFP''') is a French international [[news agency]] headquartered in [[Paris]], France. Founded in 1835 as [[Havas]], it is the world's oldest news agency.

With 2,400 employees of 100 different nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 cities across 151 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annual Report 2022 - AFP |url=https://www.afp.com/communication/afp_ra22_EN/1-Annual-Report-2022-AFP.html#/page/1-Annual-Report-2022-AFP.html |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=www.afp.com}}</ref> Its main regional headquarters are based in [[Nicosia]], [[Montevideo]], [[Hong Kong]] and Washington, D.C. AFP publishes stories, videos, photos and graphics in [[French language|French]], [[English language|English]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and [[German language|German]]. Two-thirds of its turnover comes from its own commercial activities, with the remaining one-third being provided by the French government (amounting to 113.3 million euros in 2022) as compensation for carrying out its mission of general interest.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-20 |title=AFP's 2022 results: 5% growth in commercial revenues, new tensions on costs |url=https://www.afp.com/en/agency/press-releases-newsletter/afps-2022-results-5-growth-commercial-revenues-new-tensions-costs |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref>

==History==
Agence France-Presse has its origins in the [[Agence Havas]], founded in 1835 in Paris by [[Charles-Louis Havas]], making it the world's oldest news service.<ref name="Toal">{{Cite book |last=Toal |first=Gerard |editor1-first=Nigel |editor1-last=Thrift |editor2-first=Adam |editor2-last=Tickell |editor3-first=Steve |editor3-last=Woolgar |editor4-first=William H. |editor4-last=Rupp |year=2014 |title=Globalization in Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATwTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA199 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=199 |isbn=978-0199212620}}</ref><ref name="Broderick">{{cite book |author1=James F. Broderick |author2=Darren W. Miller |title=Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web |url=https://archive.org/details/considersourcecr0000brod |url-access=registration |year=2007 |publisher=Information Today, Inc. |isbn=978-0-910965-77-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/considersourcecr0000brod/page/1 1]}}</ref> The agency pioneered the collection and dissemination of news as a [[commodity]],<ref name="Toal"/> and had established itself as a fully global concern by the late 19th century.<ref name="Kuhn">{{Cite book |last=Kuhn |first=Raymond |title=The Media In Contemporary France |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3oVTBgAAQBAJ&pg=RA5-PA3 |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education |page=3 |isbn=978-0335236220|date=2011-03-01 }}</ref> Two Havas employees, [[Paul Julius Reuter]] and [[Bernhard Wolff]], set up their own news agencies in [[London]] and [[Berlin]] respectively.<ref name="Toal"/>

In 1940, when [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German forces occupied France during World War II]], the news agency was taken over by the authorities and renamed "[[Office français d'information]]" (French Information Office); only the private advertising company retained the name [[Havas]].<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 25728734|title = L'Office Français d'Information (1940-1944)|journal = Revue d'Histoire de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale|volume = 26|issue = 101|pages = 19–40|last1 = Palmer|first1 = M. B.|year = 1976}}</ref> On 20 August 1944, as [[Liberation of Paris|Allied forces moved on Paris]], a group of journalists in the [[French Resistance]] seized the offices of the FIO and issued the first news dispatch from the liberated city under the name of Agence France-Presse.

Established as a [[state enterprise]], AFP devoted the post-war years to developing its network of international correspondents. One of them was the first Western journalist to report the death of the Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]] on 6 March 1953.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://correspondent.afp.com/stalin-dead-story-behind-scoop|title= 'Stalin is dead': the story behind the scoop|work=AFP Correspondent |date=2023-03-03}}</ref>
AFP was keen to shake off its semi-official status, and on 10 January 1957, the [[Parliament of France|French Parliament]] passed a law establishing its independence. Since that date, the proportion of the agency's revenues generated by subscriptions from government departments has steadily declined. Such subscriptions represented 115 million euros in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/budget/plf2012/a3806-tvii.asp#P115_11426 |title=N° 3806 tome VII – Avis de M. Michel Françaix sur le projet de loi de finances pour 2012 (n°3775) |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref>

In 1982, the agency began to decentralize its editorial decision-making by setting up the first of its five autonomous regional centres, in Hong Kong, then a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[British Overseas Territories|dependent territory]]. Each region has its own budget, [[Business administration|administrative director]] and [[Editor-in-chief|chief editor]]. In September 2007, the AFP Foundation was launched to promote higher standards of journalism worldwide.

The [[Mitrokhin Archive]] identified six agents and two confidential [[KGB]] contacts inside Agence France-Presse who were used in [[Russian influence operations in France|Soviet operations in France]].<ref>Andrew, Christopher, Vasili Mitrokhin (2000). The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-00312-5}}. p. 169-171</ref>

In 1991, AFP set up a joint venture with [[Extel]] to create a financial news service, [[AFX News]].<ref>AFP and Financial Wires Encroach on Original Market : Reuters News: Clients Defect. By Erik Ipsen, Published: February 13, 1992 {{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/13/business/worldbusiness/13iht-reut.html| title = nytimes.com| newspaper = The New York Times| date = 13 February 1992| last1 = Ipsen| first1 = Erik}}</ref> It was sold in 2006 to [[Thomson Financial]].<ref>Thomson Financial acquires AFX. Publication: Information World Review Publish date: July 10, 2006, {{cite web| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147936027.html| title = highbeam.com| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105223257/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147936027.html| archive-date = 5 November 2012}}</ref>

In October 2008, the [[Government of France]] announced moves to change AFP's status, including the involvement of outside investors. On 27 November of that year, the main trade unions represented in the company's home base of France – the [[CGT (France)|CGT]], [[Force Ouvrière]], [[Syndicat national des journalistes]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snj.fr/ |title=Bienvenue sur le site du SNJ |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref> [[Union syndicale des journalistes CFDT]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journalistes-cfdt.fr/ |title=Actualités |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref> and
[[Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques|SUD]], launched an online petition to oppose what they saw as an attempt to [[privatise]] the agency.

On 10 December 2009, the [[French Culture Minister]] [[Frédéric Mitterrand]] announced that he was setting up a Committee of Experts under former AFP CEO Henri Pigeat to study plans for the agency's future status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sos-afp.org/en/experts_committee |title=December 2009: Government Sets up Committee to Study Agency's Future |access-date=January 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116221320/http://www.sos-afp.org/en/experts_committee |archive-date=16 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On February 24, 2010, Pierre Louette unexpectedly announced his intention to resign as CEO by the end of March, and move to a job with [[France Télécom]].

In November 2013, AFP and [[Getty Images]] were ordered to pay $1.2 million compensation to freelance photojournalist Daniel Morel for using his images posted on [[Twitter]] related to the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] without his permission, in violation of copyright and Twitter's terms of service.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-media-copyright-twitter-idUSBRE9AL16F20131122|title=Photographer wins $1.2 million from companies that took pictures off Twitter|last=Ax|first=Joseph|date=November 22, 2013|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=November 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2308888/getty-images-disappointed-at-usd12m-morel-verdict|title=Getty Images disappointed at $1.2m Morel verdict|last=Laurent|first=Olivier|date=November 24, 2013|work=British Journal of Photography|publisher=Incisive Media|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126170747/http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2308888/getty-images-disappointed-at-usd12m-morel-verdict|archive-date=November 26, 2013|access-date=November 25, 2013}}</ref>

AFP's statute was changed in 2015 to bring it into line with [[European legislation]] through Law No. 2015-433 of 17 April 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Loi n° 2015-433 du 17 avril 2015 portant diverses dispositions tendant à la modernisation du secteur de la presse|url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000030490302?nature=o_ZqUg%3D%3D&page=1&pageSize=10&query=2015-433&searchField=ALL&searchType=ALL&sortValue=SIGNATURE_DATE_DESC&tab_selection=jorf&typePagination=DEFAUT|author=[[Légifrance]]|date=18 April 2015|access-date=16 March 2017|publication-date=}}.</ref> The State's financing of AFP was thus modified and was structured into two components: <br>
* Financial compensation for the Agency's missions of general interest
* Commercial subscriptions from the State

The current [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] and chairman is [[Fabrice Fries]] and the Global News Director is Phil Chetwynd.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Agence France-Presse |title=AFP management |date=17 January 2012 |url=https://www.afp.com/en/agency/management-team}}</ref>

== Notable journalists ==

* Arman Soldin (1991–2023), Franco-Bosnia video journalist, killed during a rocket strike in Ukraine<ref>{{Cite web |last=Regan |first=Helen |date=2023-05-10 |title='Brave and tenacious' AFP journalist Arman Soldin killed in rocket fire in eastern Ukraine |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/europe/afp-journalist-arman-soldin-killed-ukraine-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>
* Massoud Hossaini (1981–), 2012 [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner<ref>{{Cite web |title=Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/massoud-hossaini |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=www.pulitzer.org |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Javier Manzano]] (1975–), 2013 [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner<ref>{{Cite web |title=Javier Manzano of Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/javier-manzano |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=www.pulitzer.org |language=en}}</ref>
* Shah Marai (1977–2018), Afghan photojournalist based in [[Kabul]], killed during a bombing attack<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shah Marai |url=https://cpj.org/data/people/shah-marai/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Distinctions ==
AFP was voted "Best News Agency" in 2021 and 2020 by the AIB (Association of International Broadcasters).

Two photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for an AFP photo: Massoud Hossaini for his photo of a young girl in tears after a suicide bombing in Kaboul (1st place in the category Breaking News), and Javier Manzano in 2013 for his photo of two Syrian rebel soldiers in a room lit by rays of sunlight shining through bullet holes in the wall (1st place in the category Photo Magazine).

The World Press photo of the year has been awarded on three different occasions to AFP photographers: Hocine Zaourar in 1998 for his photo of a woman in tears in front of a hospital in Algiers, Ronaldo Schemidt in 2018 for his photo of a man running while on fire during a series of riots in Caracas, and Yasuyoshi Chiba in 2020 for his photo of young protesters in Khartoum.

The Albert Londres Prize has been awarded to AFP journalists on five occasions: Patrick Meney in 1983, Sammy Ketz in 1988, AFP’s Moscow office in 1995, Michel Moutot in 1999, and Emmanuel Duparcq in 2011.

Five AFP collaborators have won the Rory Peck Prize: Pacôme Pabandji in 2014, Zein Al-Rifai in 2015, Will Vassilopoulos in 2016, Luis Sequeira in 2019, and Solan Kolli in 2021.

The Visa d’Or (in the category News) has been awarded on four occasions to AFP photographers (Georges Gobet in 2003, Bülent Kilic in 2015, Aris Messinis in 2016, Guillermo Arias in 2019), as well as Sameer Al-Doumy who won the Visa d’Or Humanitaire in 2022.

Furthermore, AFP was distinguished by the "Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards" in 2021 for photos taken by Josh Edelson and in 2022 (in the category "Video – Short Feature").

== Prizes and awards ==
In 1983, the [[Albert Londres Prize]] was awarded to [[Patrick Meney]],<ref name="ALAward">{{cite web |title=Les lauréats |url=https://www.scam.fr/PrixAlbertLondres/LesLaureats/ |website=www.scam.fr |access-date=18 May 2021 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021233401/https://scam.fr/PrixAlbertLondres/LesLaureats |url-status=dead }}</ref> who wrote a series of articles about 600 French people forcibly detained in the [[Gulag]] after World War II. In 1984, his book ''Les Mains coupées de la Taïga'' was published.

In 1988, Sammy Ketz received the next Albert Londres Prize.<ref name="ALAward" /> Together with his colleague from the liberation movement, Serge Chalandon, he covered the events of the Libyan Civil War for 6 years.

On October 17, 2014, AFP international director [[Michèle Léridon]] received the Investigation and Reporting Award at the International Congress of Journalism and Information. Michèle Léridon sat the author of the article "Covering ISIS", which was posted on the agency's blog.

In December 2014, [[Bülent Kiliç]] was named ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine Photojournalist of the Year for his coverage of events in the Middle East and Europe.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://time.com/3611797/bulent-kilic-wire-photographer-of-2014/| title = Photos: TIME Picks Bulent Killic as the Best Wire Photographer of 2014 {{!}} Time}} </ref> The photographer received the same acknowledgement from ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/dec/29/photographer-of-the-year-2014-bulent-kilic-in-pictures| title = Photographer of the year 2014: Bulent Kilic – in pictures {{!}} Art and design {{!}} The Guardian| newspaper = The Guardian| date = 29 December 2014| last1 = Desk| first1 = Picture}}</ref>

== AFP projects ==
'''AFP Graphics'''

In 1988, the agency has its own department of [[infographic]]s – AFP Graphics, which today creates about 70 graphics per day. According to the information provided by the agency's website, thematically infographics have the following distribution: 31% – [[politics]], 27% – [[economics]], 18% – [[sport]]s, 12% – [[society]], 10% – [[General News Service|general news]], 2% – [[culture]] and [[media (communication)|media]]. Infographics are available in 6 languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and German.

'''AFP Forum'''

In 2014, AFP launches a content platform that is available on all electronic media: computers, tablets and mobile phones. AFP Forum is divided into several sections, including homepage, text materials, photos, videos and graphics. News can be filtered by headings (news, business, sports, science), hashtags and by geographical regions (Africa, North America, Europe, etc.). All information is available in 6 languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. In total, there are about 1250 illustrated materials per day, available in [[XML]], [[HTML]], [[Text file|TXT]], [[NewsML]] or [[Website Meta Language|WML]] formats.

'''AFP Video services'''

In July 2001, the agency announced the launch of AFP Video services, a video graphics division. Already in 2007, the agency launches AFPTV – a project in which all news from 2011 appear in HD video format. As of 2015, 200 videos in 7 different languages appear on the site every day.

'''Mobile services'''

In 2008, Mobile services appeared – a separate digital platform for mobile phones. News in Mobile services is available in 6 languages (French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, German) and is divided into 22 thematic blocks: world news, world sports, football, top pages, Middle East, US news, Asia and Pacific news region, photos, videos, UK news, Africa, business, sports in the US, South African news, science, cricket, US politics, culture, Canada, lifestyle, technology and media, more. In addition to the section by headings, the news is divided into 100 categories (crime, energy, military conflicts, human rights, etc.), 43 countries, 70 cities and 100 hashtags. There is also a general search.

==Statutes==
AFP operates under a 1957 law as a commercial business independent of the [[Politics of France|French government]]. AFP is administered by a [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] and a board comprising 15 members:
* Eight representatives of the French [[Mass media|press]];
* Two representatives of AFP personnel;
* Two representatives of Public Services radio and television;
* Three representatives of the government. One is named by the [[Prime Minister of France|prime minister]], another by the [[Minister of Finance (France)|minister of finance]], and a third by the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|minister of foreign affairs]].

The mission of AFP is defined in its [[statute]]:<ref name="afp-statutes">{{cite web |url=http://www.sos-afp.org/en/statutes |title=Full Text of AFP's Statutes in English |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=June 12, 2017 |access-date=October 22, 2018}}</ref>
* Agence France-Presse may under no circumstances take account of influences or considerations liable to compromise the exactitude or the objectivity of the information it provides; it may under no circumstances fall under the control, either de facto or de jure, of any ideological, political or economic grouping;
* Agence France-Presse must, to the full extent that its resources permit, develop and enhance its organisation so as to provide French and foreign users with exact, impartial and trustworthy information on a regular and uninterrupted basis;
* Agence France-Presse must, to the full extent that its resources permit, ensure the existence of a network of facilities giving it the status of a worldwide information service.

The board elects the CEO for a renewable term of three years. AFP also has a council charged with ensuring that the agency operates according to its statutes, which mandate absolute [[independence]] and neutrality. Editorially, AFP is governed by a network of senior journalists.

The primary client of AFP is the French government, which purchases subscriptions for its various services. In practice, those subscriptions are an indirect [[subsidy]] to AFP. The statutes of the agency prohibit direct government subsidies.

===Number of employees===
Based in Paris, AFP covers 151 countries, with 201 offices, 50 local correspondents and five regional centres:

Washington (North America)
Hong Kong (Asia-Pacific)
Montevideo (Latin America)
Nicosia (Middle East)
Paris (Europe and Africa)

AFP says it employs 2,400 people of 100 different nationalities, including 1,700 journalists. It provides information in six languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Arabic), twenty-four hours a day.<ref>{{Cite web|title=L'AFP en chiffres |author=Agence France-Presse |date=2020 |url=https://www.afp.com/fr/lagence/propos/lafp-en-chiffres |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101112412/https://www.afp.com/fr/lagence/propos/lafp-en-chiffres |archive-date=1 January 2020 }}</ref>

== Investments ==
Notable investments include:
* '''thAFP GmbH'''
*: AFP GmbH is the subsidiary of AFP in [[Germany]], producing German-language services for local press, internet and corporate clients.
* '''SID'''
*: Sport-Informations-Dienst (SID) is producing a German-language sports service.
* '''Citizenside'''
*: In 2007, AFP purchased a 34% stake in Scooplive, a [[Citizen journalism|citizen news]] photo and video agency online. Established in France in 2006, Scooplive was renamed [[Citizenside]] after this investment, but AFP soon sold its shares to news aggregator [[Newzulu]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aubert |first1=Aurélie |last2=Nicey |first2=Jérémie |editor-last=Allan |editor-first=Stuart |year=2017 |title=Photojournalism and Citizen Journalism: Co-operation, Collaboration and Connectivity |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XTYlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA238 |location = New York, NY |publisher = Taylor & Francis |page = 238 |isbn = 978-1351813457 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of news agencies]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Agence France-Presse}}
* {{Official website|https://www.afp.com/}} {{in lang|en|es|de|fr|pt|ar}}
* [http://www.citizenside.com Citizenside website]
* [http://www.sos-afp.org SOS-AFP trade union website]

{{News agencies}}
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[[Category:Agence France-Presse| ]]
[[Category:International organizations based in France]]
[[Category:1835 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1835]]
[[Category:Mass media companies of France]]
[[Category:Companies based in Paris]]
[[Category:Mass media in Paris]]

Agence France-Presse - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 13:21, 23 August 2023